My first show! some questions about printing and selling work.

Finally I plucked up the courage to get together my best material over the last three years and put on an exhibition. It's in a local cafe/gallery space in 3 months time. So I have a three questions...

1. How do I ensure accurate colour reproduction with printing? If I am happy with what I see on my monitor, what steps do I need to ensure the closest reproduction with printing? I am aware of different colour spaces and calibration etc, but have never paid much attention to them. One reason I ask is because I hope to print up to A3 on archival paper and professional substrate so they will cost a fair bit and do not want to waste money getting this wrong.

2. Can anyone recommend a professional printers in the UK that they have used for this kind of printing?

3. I want to put my images up for sale and have no idea how to price them? any pointers - not being a famous person and all!

and if you are curious, here is my new website that has some of my work....

You say " I am aware of different colour spaces and calibration etc, but have never paid much attention to them" - I respectfully suggest that you need to if you are not to be disappointed with your printing results. This is a huge and complex subject - impossible to resolve in a forum post. I recommend two places to start:

1 Buy or borrow Jeff Schewe's book "The Digital Print" (published by Peachpit, and available from Amazon UK) - even if you decide to get your prints done by a commercial lab, it will still be immensely useful.

2 Have a look at Keith Cooper's site "Northlight Images". Keith has a treasure trove of information about profiling and printing, and comprehensive equipment reviews (all delivered without prejudice). I have found his site an invaluable source of help!

Good luck with your exhibition - where and when is it taking place? My daughter lives in Minchinhampton, and I might be able to get along to see it.

You say " I am aware of different colour spaces and calibration etc, but have never paid much attention to them" - I respectfully suggest that you need to if you are not to be disappointed with your printing results. This is a huge and complex subject - impossible to resolve in a forum post. I recommend two places to start:

1 Buy or borrow Jeff Schewe's book "The Digital Print" (published by Peachpit, and available from Amazon UK) - even if you decide to get your prints done by a commercial lab, it will still be immensely useful.

2 Have a look at Keith Cooper's site "Northlight Images". Keith has a treasure trove of information about profiling and printing, and comprehensive equipment reviews (all delivered without prejudice). I have found his site an invaluable source of help!

Good luck with your exhibition - where and when is it taking place? My daughter lives in Minchinhampton, and I might be able to get along to see it.

David

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot. That's a very helpful start to the subject. My show will be at Hobbs bakery in Nailsworth from 30th March to 10 May.

Hi Pete, I've been looking at getting some large prints done - for a view of printers in the UK I'd recommend having a look around on the talkphotography forums.

I've used ds colour labs (http://dscolourlabs.co.uk/) based on their many recommendations and got great small (7*5) wedding prints from them.

Regarding colour, it's a minefield - I vaguely remember dscl will send you test small crops before you commit to doing large prints. Afaik the first real step is calibration - anything else is just guesswork...I haven't bought one yet, but then - I'm not getting paid!

Hi Pete, I've been looking at getting some large prints done - for a view of printers in the UK I'd recommend having a look around on the talkphotography forums.

I've used ds colour labs (http://dscolourlabs.co.uk/) based on their many recommendations and got great small (7*5) wedding prints from them.

Regarding colour, it's a minefield - I vaguely remember dscl will send you test small crops before you commit to doing large prints. Afaik the first real step is calibration - anything else is just guesswork...I haven't bought one yet, but then - I'm not getting paid!

Click to expand...

Thanks for these links and tips. small test crops would be useful so I will check that out.

Most pro labs will have a color profile file that you can download. Bring that into your image editing software and save/edit the file with that profile. It is what they use to calibrate their printers.

Pricing wise, a good rule of thumb to start is take whatever the cost is to print and double it. So, if you get a canvas and it costs $100 to get made, you can charge $200 for it. Maybe more or less. You might want to discuss the matter with the exhibition manager or location owner and see what has sold their similar to your showing and inquire about the prices at that time.

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